Intel Clover Trail Tablets, With Windows 8, Could Entice Businesses

Atom Z2760 Clover Trail

Intel is betting that the new Atom SoC and Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 8 operating system will enable it to gain a solid foothold in the tablet market. Designed specifically for Windows-based tablets, the Atom Z2760 will offer greater performance and energy efficiency than current Atom chips, and will enable OEMs to build very thin and very light tablets.

Intel hosted an event in San Francisco Sept. 27 with several of its OEM partners to officially unveil its low-power Atom Z2760 system-on-a-chip (SoC), a product specifically aimed at the tablet market and optimized to take advantage of Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 8 operating system. On display at the event were devices—both tablets and hybrids, which can be used as a tablet or a traditional laptop—from such hardware partners as Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Acer, Lenovo and Samsung. The launch of these tablets later this year and into 2013 will be important for both Intel and Microsoft, each of whom is looking to get better traction in a tablet market that currently is dominated by strong rivals—ARM-designed chips and operating systems from Apple (iOS) and Google (Android). Intel is driving down the power consumption of its Atom platform, bringing it closer to the energy-efficiency capabilities offered by ARM-designed chips. Intel executives are hoping to leverage their x86-based architecture and the chip’s ability to run familiar Microsoft productivity apps to not only attract consumers, but also business users who want to use their tablets more for work.